When morning finally broke through Felix's window, I found his presence next to mine gone. I was snuggling with a pillow instead with the blanket covering my waist downward. I got up and saw William still sound asleep. By now, the wet spot on my shorts looked dry enough and unnoticeable.

A few minutes later, Felix walked in and was already dressed up for school. We instinctively stared at each other and he appeared to have something he wanted so much to say, but he chose to keep it. Instead, he told me something else.

"Breakfast is ready," he said. "Help me wake up Willy, okay?"

I nodded and got off the bed.

"Careful. He's not a morning person."

That was pretty obvious. Our younger friend looked like he could sleep through a storm passing right over our heads. Felix went to the end of the inflatable mattress and held William's ankles. I wondered what he was about to do.

"Make sure you catch his head, okay?"

I nodded again and Felix started pulling William. Inch by inch, my wingman was pulled down and off his mattress and when his back touched the floor, I quickly put my hand under his head and caught him, just as he quickly opened his eyes.

"Shit!" he shouted and sat up. He glared at Felix and said, "You know I don't like being pulled out of bed! You betrayed me!"

"That or we're going to be late for class," Felix justified. "Hurry up and go get dressed. You too, Chase."

William and I took turns with the bathroom and hurriedly got dressed and fixed our stuff. We'd come back later to get our overnight luggage. At the intoxicating invitation of breakfast, William made his way downstairs ahead of us, completely ignoring the fact that his amazingly blonde hair was still out of place.

Just as I was about to walk out of the bedroom, Felix held my shoulder and I looked back at him. Like earlier, he was hesitant of what he wanted to say, but I knew that he was going to say it nonetheless.

"Whatever you're planning to do with those three assholes, tell me," he said. "I want to help."

"Don't worry," I told him. "I'll take care of it and...I'll make sure they won't bother you again."

"I mean it Chase. I want to help you even if it means playing the idiot again. What they did to you yesterday crossed the line."

"But..."

"No buts, okay?"

I sighed and nodded. We stood there for some time, eyeing each other and still waiting for whatever it was that we both wanted to say.

"You don't mind if I...," Felix trailed off.

"You what?"

He shook his head, walked slowly to me, turned his gaze to the floor, shook his head again, and met my eyes and...sluggishly held his arms up, under mine and wrapped me in a gentle embrace. His head rested on my shoulder lightly and I wondered if he could feel any beat from my heart.

On my part, I knew that my heart stopped again. What a sucker it was.

"Felix?"

"I just...," he mumbled. "I just wanted to know what this feels like."

I nodded and heard him giggle.

"You can hug back, you know," he said. "Don't make me feel awkward here."

I hugged him back just as slowly as when he started hugging me. Right by his doorway, we both stood with our chests pressed on each other and our hearts stopping altogether.

Finally, Felix pulled back and smiled so wonderfully at me that I couldn't help smiling back. The start and middle of the hug may have been a little awkward, but it didn't feel like it when we both surrendered to each other's hold.

"Thanks," he said.

"I should be thanking you," I corrected. "But what made you do that?"

He appeared thoughtful before saying, "Remember the last song that played before we both fell asleep?"

"Uh...no. I think I fell asleep before you did and...I don't remember."

"It's cool," he said. "It's just that...I think that song gave me a really good dream last night."

A dream?

"What dream?"

"I'm not telling you. But it was a really good one, honest."

"Uhm..." In my mind, all I could think of was him dreaming of how he cuddled up next to me and how I returned it with the same closeness and warmth. And, of course, with the added `bonus' of my hand on his hard dick.

"Will you tell me next time?" I asked.

He narrowed his eyes and pouted a little. "Okay," he answered. "Maybe next time."

I thanked him and smiled.

"But this doesn't mean I like you, okay?" he quickly added.

"Okay," I answered.

"C'mon. My dad will drive us to school," he said as he led the way down to the dining room.

"We're not taking the bus?"

"Don't feel like it and you still haven't told me anything about what you wanna do with those guys."

"Oh." Now Felix instantly got me devising some sort of plan to deal with Dennis, Patrick and Gregory. However, I couldn't think of any way to get back at them. So, maybe we'll just let his dad drive us to school and avoid being on the same bus as them.

When the three of us got to school, I was instantly made aware of the fact that we got strange looks from almost every kid we passed by. They also kept whispering to each other with their eyes on us. It was like we were being gossiped and I felt sure that was the case. A couple of kids even jeered at us which got him a glare from me. Having been friends with Dennis, Patrick and Gregory for over a year got me the reputation of an infamous bully in school despite of not doing anything to them. I just went along with whatever those three ex-friends of mine did and was only there for `moral support'. My reputation, however, made others steer away from me and cower when I sent daggers at them with my eyes.

And that was what mostly kept whatever was being gossiped about us to themselves.

When I got to my locker with Felix and William going to theirs, I finally found out what was being whispered behind my back. Right on the metal door was an ugly piece of paper with the bold words:

Chase and Felix sitting on a tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-G

If the note wasn't about me and Felix, I would've laughed at the childishness and stupidity of it all. But, as it spelled out, it was I and Felix who did the K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

"What about Chase and Willy?"

I turned around when I heard the question and met William's silly smile. If he was just some other kid, I would've glared at him and made him run away from me. Instead, I hurriedly cupped my hand over his mouth and glanced around to make sure that no one was close enough to hear what he said.

"Shut it, okay?" I told him and he nodded. I took my hand off his mouth and he started licking his lips. "Do you even have to do that?"

"Your hands are sweaty," he said. "A bit salty."

I narrowed my eyes at him and said, "You're my weirdest wingman ever."

"I'm your only wingman," he corrected.

"And you're doing a good job at it," I sarcastically remarked. "I'm sure Felix will like me back at the end of the day."

"Hey! It's not easy to make him like you. You practically ignored him all year and now you just tell him that you like him? Not cool, Chase."

"I know, okay?!"

He sighed and stepped toward my locker before ripping the paper off it. He gave it to me and that's when I noticed something else printed on the back.

"What's that?" William asked.

"It's an audition for the Christmas recital or something."

Every year, our school held several recitals and presentations by students. And every year, we always made fun of those who had the misfortune of singing in front of a crowded auditorium with moms and dads holding up their cameras and the kid having to choke in the middle of Silent Night. This year would surely be the same.

"Felix should do the auditions."

"What?" I asked William who stared back at me with all seriousness of what he just said.

"He can sing and he's not bad."

I knew for sure that Felix was far from being the worst singer. He had a very cool voice and he loved to sing. I couldn't be sure, however, how'd he fare in front of an audience.

"He won't do it," I said.

"Why not?"

"He's too shy for something like this."

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely. Felix loves to sing but only when he thinks no one is listening."

"Not when he's with you," William uttered.

"Huh?"

"I can't make Felix sing except when we played guess-the-lyrics," he said. "But I know you can, Chase. Make him do the auditions."

"I can't make him if he doesn't want to."

"You won't know if you don't give it a try."

"Don't need to. Felix doesn't sing in front of a crowd."

"Just try it, okay? You're the one who said that he's too quiet and I know you really want to hear him sing," he argued. "Make him sing his heart out then you can hear him perfectly."

"What do you mean?"

"For someone so smart, you're dumb"

"Who told you I'm smart?"

"Felix. You were a straight-A student when he moved away, right?"

True. I nodded and asked, "Then why do you think I'm dumb?"

"Coz you don't know the first thing about making Felix like you back!"

I glanced around once again, afraid that William almost shouted so loud.

"Make him do the auditions, okay?" he continued. "I know for sure you can make him sing."

I nodded slowly and looked back down at the poster.

"It's two weeks from now," I mumbled.

"Then you better get him to start practicing," William suggested. "Not that he needs it anyway."

I sighed and stared at my wingman. Over the past few days, his innocent face with those equally innocent eyes kept haunting me. William, unlike Felix, was so sure and loud of everything that was on his mind. Unlike Felix, he wasn't quiet and shy.

"What did Felix say last night?" I asked.

"About what?"

"When you said that he does still like me."

William raised an eyebrow and giggled. "I know you were listening in on us. I won't tell you, though."

"What? Why not?"

"Make him sing and I'll tell you."

"That's not fair."

"Yes, it is," he justified. "If you can make him do the auditions, I'll tell you what he said and you'll even hear it from him."

"I will?"

"Yep! I promise."

I should've been annoyed at not getting any straight answer, but William managed to make me look forward to hearing it directly from Felix. Now I just had to make him sing and in two-week's time, I didn't know where to start.

"You're my wingman, aren't you?"

He nodded.

"Then help me make him sing."

William's mouth briefly formed an `O' before he closed it again, bit his bottom lip and said, "Deal."

"If he ends up hating me after this, I'll have your ass."

Ugh, fuck. I didn't just say that. But William's chuckles confirmed that I did say that and so did the rising heat on my cheeks.

"So it'll be Chase and William sitting on a..."

"Shut it!" I yelled and covered his mouth again. When I felt his tongue poking through his lips and touching my palm, I quickly withdrew and glared at him. "Shit man!"

"...tree," he continued, in a much lower voice this time. "F-U-C-K-I-N-G."

"One more word from you and I'll rip you apart," I growled.

"Easy, Chase!" he said and laughed. "I know that the only butt you want to fuck is Felix's."

"Fuck you!" I yelled and started toward him as he ran down the hallway.

"No thanks!" he yelled back. "Maybe some other time!"

I stopped chasing after him and sighed loudly. If there was something William was really good at, it was annoying the hell out of me.

The rest of the morning classes went by like nothing ever happened yesterday. Unfortunately, I still had to sit in between my ex-friends, but they were far too bored to bother with me. Instead, they just kept kicking my chair and trying to make me fall on my ass. I glared at them and they just chuckled.

When a pop-quiz was announced for one class, I kept my paper only to my own eyes and made sure that neither of them get to peek at my answers. They threw an eraser to my head and glared at me, but it only made me hide the answers more desperately from them. Now I knew why they wanted to be friends long ago. They were using me to pass every class we had.

In the class that followed that one, they confronted me, saying, "If you don't let us copy from you, sunshine won't be able to walk on two legs anymore. And it won't be because we'll fuck him to death. Only queers like you fuck like that."

I really wanted to punch the daylights out of them, but held back and thought of the worse things they'll do to Felix if I so much as intentionally step on their foot.

So for the first class in the afternoon, I let them do their usual cheating when another quiz was given.

After school, we made our way back to Felix's house after making sure to avoid those three assholes and everyone else who kept whispering about us. Damn them to hell.

William went home immediately after getting his stuff. I, too, was about to go home but remembered the auditions that I was supposed to make Felix do. I took the poster out of my bag and showed it to him.

"What's this?"

"An audition for the Christmas recital."

"Duh," he said. "But what for?"

"Uh...what if you give it a try?"

He stared blankly at me and gave the poster back, almost shoving it to my chest.

"I don't sing."

"Yes, you do!" I contended. "And you sound better than anyone I know."

"Don't be stupid, Chase. I don't sing and you can't make me."

"But..."

"No buts."

I sighed and turned the poster so I could read it again.

"What that?" Felix asked.

"Huh?"

"At the back."

I quickly turned it and pressed it to my chest. "Oh...uh...nothing."

"It's not nothing if you hide it like that."

"Uhm..."

"Show me."

I sighed once again and gave the poster back to him. He eyed it seriously and I couldn't even start to decipher what was on his mind. His eyes seemed fixated on each letter of...

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G," he said. "Last time I checked, we weren't on a tree when we did that."

I felt stupid all of sudden. I stared at him and he looked at me with a playful grin on his lips.

"You're right," he said. "It is nothing."

"Y-yeah." I paused as he handed the poster back. "So...uhm...you'll do the auditions?"

"Not ever."

"Please?"

He narrowed his eyes at me and asked, "Why do you want me to do something I don't like?"

`Coz I want to hear what you said last night,' I thought to myself, but just said. "So you'll be the first one who can actually sing in our school."

"Still won't do it."

"But why?"

"Coz I don't want anyone else to hear me sing."

Anyone else? What did he mean by that?

"You can at least try," I said.

"I said no already."

I sighed and, lowering my gaze, mumbled, "Will you be mad if I told you that I signed you up already?"

"YOU WHAT?!" he yelled and I almost recoiled from the anger in his voice.

"I signed you up already. It'll be two weeks from now and I'll help you practice. William will help too and..."

"I. Fucking. Hate. You."

Ouch. He sounded like he meant not only every word, but also each period that came in between and at the end.

"Just give it a chance, Felix."

"Damn it, Chase! I said no, okay?"

"What if...," I uttered, quickly searching for something to say to convince him. "What if you singing will have something to do with getting back at Dennis and the guys?"

"Huh?"

"I have something in mind, but I need to take care of the details first before I tell you."

"And my singing will have something to do with it?"

"You'll be on stage and that way, they won't get to you and you'll be safe up there."

"I can take care of myself."

"I know, but I just want to keep you out of the way," I argued. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"And what about you?"

It mildly surprised me that Felix was concerned for my own safety.

"I'll be in the backstage."

"Doing what?"

"I signed up to help in making the backdrop and all."

The corner of his lips curved slightly as if he was amused.

"So? Will you do it?"

"No," he plainly answered. "Think of something else."

"But you said you'll go with whatever I'm planning to do to them!"

He fixed his eyes on mine again and I knew that he was just holding back his anger. Deep in the recesses of his thoughts, his eyes showed his want to punch me and kick me out of their front door.

"Okay," he finally said and that alone lightened up my mood. "But if I decide to back out along the way, don't you dare stop me."

"Deal."

"Deal."